Cast and Crew

Main Cast

Phil Keoghan

The Story

With the Pit Stop and a final three berth in sight, Jen stopped to use a bathroom allowing Jaime & Cara, who spent most of the leg in last place, to sneak past them and slide into the final three with Margie & Luke and Tammy & Victor.

A NEW LEG

Arriving at the Drum Tower in first place, an ecstatic Jaime & Cara stepped onto the mat waiting to hear some good news from Phil, but instead they were told they were still racing, and received another clue from him. The shocked former NFL cheerleaders opened it and discovered they had to travel to Bai Hai Dong Men. Jaime later commented, "For him [Phil] to say it wasn't over was very disheartening."

As Margie & Luke reached the Bell Tower in second place, Jaime & Cara maintained arrived at Bai Hai Dong Men in first place. Opening their clue, the former NFL cheerleaders learned they had to search the shops of the Bai Hai street mall to find the Travelocity Roaming Gnome. When they found the gnome, their next clue would be revealed.

While Jaime & Cara began looking through the open storefronts for their gnome, Tammy & Victor checked in on the mat and continued on their race. Sisters Kisha & Jen stepped onto the mat at the Bell Tower in last place, expecting to be eliminated. When Phil handed them their clue, the sisters broke out in a wide smile and ran off the mat with more than a chance of catching up. A tearful Jen said, "You've got to be kidding me."

MORNING RIDE

Continuing to search the storefronts, Jaime & Cara's lead dwindled as sibling lawyers Tammy & Victor and mother and son Margie & Luke joined in the hunt. Margie & Luke discovered the first gnome hidden in a food store atop a bag of peanuts. On the bottom of the gnome, the mother and son read their clue instructing them to travel to Gu Gong Xi Bei Jiao and find a popular mode of transportation in China, the electric bicycle. Then, they had to ride the electric bikes past Beijing's Forbidden City and cross Tiananmen Square to Dongdan subway station.

As Margie & Luke struggled to find a taxi along with Jaime & Cara who also found their gnome, sibling lawyers Tammy & Victor hopped into a cab now in first place. Margie & Luke found a taxi in second place while Jaime & Cara now fell into third. Even though the leg had only begun, Jaime exhibited her now familiar behavior by continually badgering her taxi driver when it appeared he didn't know where to go. Still in last place, but close behind the other teams, sisters Kisha & Jen remained optimistic saying, "I'm glad we got a new day."

With the sun rising over Beijing, Tammy & Victor arrived at Gu Gong Xi Bei Jiao and hopped on a pair of electric bikes for a ride through the city. Once Tammy figured out the controls, allowing her to glide without much pedaling, she enjoyed the scenery with her brother. As they passed through Tiananmen Square, the pair marveled as they got to see the morning flag raising ceremony performed by guards.

TAKING ORDERS

Arriving at the cluebox next to Dongdan subway station, Tammy & Victor discovered a Detour with the choice of Beijing Opera or Chinese Waiter. In Beijing Opera, teams had to travel to the Hu Guang Hui Guan Opera House where they would make each other up as a princess and gentleman at the Chinese opera. After being fully made up and costumed, they had to present themselves to the opera master to receive their next clue. In Chinese Waiter, teams had to travel to Hu Guang Hui Guan restaurant and select a table of hungry patrons. The customers would give their orders in Mandarin and teams would have to recite the orders back to the chef. When they recited the orders correctly, the kitchen staff would prepare the dishes. When all of the dishes had been served, teams would receive their next clue.

With the other three teams reaching the subway station, Tammy & Victor maintained their lead as they walked into the Hu Guang Hui Guan restaurant and joked, "If we can't do this task, Mom and Dad will kill us." Having the skill to translate from Mandarin to English as the patrons gave their orders didn't help Tammy & Victor initially when Victor mistranslated good luck fish as good luck squid. However, after the first mistake, the pair correctly took the remaining orders of vegetarian noodles, fried chicken, new taste beef, and golden pork spare ribs. On the potential pitfalls, Victor commented, "Chinese language, it's completely nuanced and the slightest difference in sound or intonation completely changes the meaning of the word."

MAKEUP MAYHEM

While Tammy & Victor retook their orders after being sent back by the chef, sisters Kisha & Jen arrived at the Hu Guang Hui Guan Opera House in second place. Using a sample face as a reference, Jen began to apply the white powder to her sister's face and bright red paint to lips in order to transform her into an opera princess. Kisha joked, "I look like a damn clown."

With the arrival of Margie & Luke at the opera house, the rivalry between Kisha & Jen and Margie & Luke continued to simmer, but the discord between Luke and his mother took center stage. Margie didn't like the way Luke was applying her makeup and tried to direct her son to do a better job. The impatient Luke didn't respond well to the criticism and walked away, saying, "I'm finished." Eventually, Luke settled down and finished his mother's makeup as Kisha & Jen changed into the costumes after completing each other's faces.

BIG DECISION

After placing the restaurant order correctly, Tammy & Victor delivered the steaming entrees to the patrons and opened their next clue directing them to travel on foot to Wen Chang Ge. Once there, they would find the second of only two U-turns on the race allowing one team to slow another one down by forcing them to backtrack and perform the other side of the Detour. Unlike the first U-turn on the course, this U-turn wasn't blind.

Running out of the restaurant attempting to reach the U-turn first, Tammy & Victor stopped to ask a guard where to find Wen Chang Ge. He pointed them back into the complex, which housed both the restaurant and the opera house, where they returned to find the U-turn. Sisters Kisha & Jen walked onto the opera house stage to take a bow in their elaborate makeup and costume, while sibling laywers Tammy & Victor stood nearby and decided to U-turn them, citing their speed and athleticism as the reason. After pasting the sisters' picture on the U-turn, Tammy & Victor learned they had to travel to Dong Hua Men Yi Shi Street Market.

TROUBLE IN CHINA

As Kisha & Jen exited the opera house and hit the streets of Beijing, unaware that the U-turn was in the complex they just left, Margie & Luke finished their makeup and donned their costumes to earn their next clue. Exiting the opera house, Margie & Luke made the same mistake as Kisha & Jen and began wandering the streets looking for Wen Chang Ge along with the sisters.

Very alone in last place, former NFL cheerleaders Jaime & Cara got dropped off by their taxi at the wrong opera house. The process of finding another taxi to take them to the correct opera house took its toll on Jaime's patience. Wandering around the street, Jaime said, "It's because China's so damn populated. That's why there's no frickin' empty taxis." Eventually, the pair found one, hoping it wasn't too late to catch up.

A TASTE FOR VICTORY

Arriving at Dong Hua Men Yi Shi Street Market in first place, Tammy & Victor encountered a Roadblock. In it, one team member had to eat a plate of fried Chinese delicacies including grasshoppers, larvae, scorpions, and starfish. Once they finished their plate, teams would receive their next clue.

After watching the cook fry his plate of critters, Victor sat down to enjoy his cornucopia of delicious delicacies. With the loud crunch as he bit into the larvae, Victor told his sister, "I'm trying not to think about it." Saving the starfish for last, Victor ate it one appendage at a time until he was finished to earn his clue. Opening it, he and Tammy discovered they had to travel to the Pit Stop at Niao Chao, better known as the Bird's Nest, the centerpiece of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Stepping onto the mat in first place, sibling lawyers Tammy & Victor earned a spot in the final three along with a trip for two from Travelocity to the Galapagos Islands. On their prospects at winning a million dollars, Victor said, "I think we'll be tough to beat."

LOST IN TRANSLATION

With Margie & Luke and Kisha & Jen still wandering around Beijing looking for the U-turn, Jaime & Cara arrived at the opera house and began to apply makeup on each other's faces. Soon, the former NFL cheerleaders took their bow on stage to receive their clue and joined the other two befuddled teams in the search for Wen Chang Ge.

After Margie & Luke returned to the opera house with the help of a local and found the U-turn, Jaime & Cara and Kisha & Jen continued to wander around. Reaching her breaking point in frustration after asking dozens of locals, Jaime sniped, "This is why I did not want to go to China. It sucks."

COMING BACK

Eventually, Kisha & Jen retraced their steps and returned to the opera house to discover they'd been U-turned. With Jaime & Cara still searching the streets of Beijing, the sisters got down to the business of taking orders from the restaurant patrons. Writing down phonetically what they heard, the sisters didn't fare very well in their first recitation to the chef. Fried chicken became "Monthly use Taiwanese Chicken" and Kisha's pronunciation of vegetarian noodles turned it into "Good western heads lack fish." After a few more tries, Kisha & Jen finally received the chef's approval and served the dishes to the waiting patrons.

With Margie & Luke finishing in second place and Kisha & Jen en route to the street market, a frustrated Jamie & Cara again found themselves in last place. Finally, in a Hail Mary pass, Jaime suggested returning to the opera house to retrace their steps. After seeing the U-turn, Jaime sniped at Cara when she called Jaime defeatist. Not backing down to her partner, Cara defended herself when Jaime implied that Cara held blame for not coming back to the opera house sooner.

SHOWDOWN IN CHINA

Having overcome the U-turn and a tumultuous previous leg, Kisha & Jen arrived the street market on the brink of making the final three. Not enamored with the notion of eating the delicacies, Jen slowly began choking down the larvae one miserable bite after another. Using water after every bite to help it go down, Jen made a dent in her sizable portion, but had plenty to go.

With Jen struggling, Cara & Jaime arrived at the street market seeing their chance to catch up. Noticing how slow Jen was eating her food, Cara felt motivated to chew at a much faster pace. A stunned Jaime cheered, "You're an animal!" Seeing Jen stop to vomit, Jaime said, "She's sick. You got her." Jen managed to hold back any more vomit and finished her plate ahead of the eating machine known as Cara.

A COSTLY DECISION

Jumping into their taxi just as Cara finished her starfish, Jen began to squirm and told her sister how badly she needed a bathroom after the four bottles of water she used to choke down the food. Meanwhile, Jaime & Cara almost forgot their gnome at the street market, but hopped into a taxi minutes behind the sisters hoping that Cara's eating prowess kept them in the race.

Pulling up to Niao Chao, Jen still needed a bathroom and, as the sisters ran looking for Phil, Kisha spotted a row of porta-potties. Jen took the time to pee while her sister waited. Meanwhile, Jaime & Cara pulled up to the Bird's Nest in taxi with a chance to overtake the idle sisters. After Jen exited the porta-potty, she and her sisters scoured the grounds for Phil along with Jaime & Cara. The team with the eagle eye would remain in the race and the other would be eliminated.

FINAL ELIMINATION

Stepping onto the mat in third place, Jaime & Cara couldn't believe the news from Phil that they would be racing for one million dollars. Cara told her ecstatic partner, "Didn't I tell you that there's always hope?"

A stunned Kisha & Jen received the bad news from Phil that they had been eliminated from the race. In tears, Jen said, "I feel guilty as hell. I had to use the bathroom." Kisha wouldn't let her sister take the fall for the team saying what a strong competitor her sister was throughout the race. Kisha later added, "To experience this race with her and see her strengths really made me look at her different. She's not my little sister anymore." Jen added, "It was just an amazing experience that I didn't want to share with anybody other than my sister. I enjoyed every minute of it."